Little Miss Perfect | Neteyam¹

Chapter 15: Bracelets

Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past

Bold - sign language

The three Omatikaya girls walked back to their tent along with Tsireya to grab the shells they needed to make their bracelets. Tsireya explained the whole process of how to make the bracelets, along with the different types of bracelets that could be made. "So, you can make a friendship bracelet, a bracelet showing off your achievements, or you can make a bracelet to give to the person you like." She explains as she follows the three girls ahead of her.

Marali slows her pace to match the Metkayina girl behind her.

"There's a specific type of bracelet that can be made to give to your crush?" She asked, and Tsireya nodded in confirmation. "Well yeah, I mean, we are too young to mate, so a tradition was made to give the boy you like a bracelet," Tsireya said. "That's kind of like the tradition we have back home." Kiri looked back at the two girls behind her.

Tsireya looked at them curiously. "Back home, when a guy liked a girl, he would give her either a bead he made or a bead that he received when he accomplished something," Marali said, pausing, knowing there was something about the tradition she was forgetting. "Kiri, what am I forgetting?"

"Once the girl accepts the guy's beads, he has to undo one of her braids and braid it into her hair to let everyone know that they chose each other," Kiri adds. Tsireya nods her head in thought.

"The guys are the ones who make the first move?" Tsireya asks. Kiri and Marali both nod their heads. "Yeah, for the most part. Sometimes a girl will tell the guy she likes him, but even then, usually, the guy will still give her a bead and braid it into her hair." Marali said. "I wish the guys here would make the first move, but none of them seem to care enough," Tsireya said, and Marali laughed in disbelief.

Kiri stopped walking to walk on the other side of Tsireya. "Really?" Kiri asks. "Mhm. It's only ever the girls who make these bracelets." Tsireya said. After that, the rest of the walk back to the pod was silent.

Once they made it back to their Mauri pod, all the girls went to their belongings to grab the shells they collected when Tsireya took them shell hunting. Marali had enough to make two bracelets, Kiri had enough to make two bracelets and a necklace, and little Tuk had enough shells to make a top, three bracelets, and two necklaces.

Kiri and Marali watched the younger girl in amusement as she struggled to carry all of her shells with her. However, she didn't struggle for long as Tsireya told the girls they could make the jewelry in her family's Mauri pod.

After they made it to the Mauri pod, Tuk plopped down on the ground and dropped her shells in front of her, causing the girls to laugh. Marali sat down beside Tuk and looked at her shells. There were big ones, small ones, blue ones, yellow ones, and even pink ones. The teen smiled at the girl for her excitement over collecting something new.

Tsireya sat in front of all of the girls and looked at their collections. Her eyes visibly widened at the mound of shells in front of Tuk. "Tuk, do you want me to take you a top with your shells?" Tsireya asked, and Tuk shook her head no. "Mama made me this top back home. I don't want a new top right now." Tsireya nodded her head in understanding.

"What kind of bracelets do you all want to make?" Tsireya questioned.

"I'm fine with making a friendship bracelet and maybe even a necklace," Kiri said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I'm fine with making a friendship bracelet, and maybe, uh-" Marali paused. "Maybe a bracelet to give to the boy I like, you know, for the future," Kiri smirked at her, causing Marali to lightly nudge her shoulder.